Appologise and Appologies.

Question

When and how could the words Appologise and Appologies be used in formal sentences?

Doctor D · Accepted Answer

Only one "p" but note that British and American spelling differ.

Apologize (American spelling) is a verb.
Apology is a noun. Apologies is a plural noun.

I would like to apologize for the trouble I caused.

Your apology is accepted. If your friends would like to offer their apologies, they would also be accepted.

Does this help?

Yoong Liat · Answer

Doctor DApologize (American spelling) is a verb.

'Apologize' has been accepted by the British as an alternative spelling of 'apologise'.

Mr Wordy · Answer

Yoong Liat
'Apologize' has been accepted by the British as an alternative spelling of 'apologise'.

In fact, most -ize spellings are accepted in British English (some BrE dictionaries even list them first), and this is not a recent phenomenon or a borrowing from AmE. In modern times, though, -ize has become fairly uncommon in BrE. See e.g. http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/ize

Anonymous · Answer

When I was at school in the U.K. many years ago, we were all taught that:
"...ize" was American usage and the British form was "...ise"
for all words ending in "ise".

Anonymous · Answer

You are absolutely correct that the ONLY acceptable spellings contained 'ise' and NEVER the American 'ize'. That goes from Primary school through to Uni and also in the workplace. You were always taught that the American spelling was wrong. Fifty years later and I have not seen anything to the contrary. I have never seen any friends, colleagues, teachers etc. use, or allow, anything but the English version. In fact, any copied text that had the American spelling had to be changed. My American friends etc. also changed to the English way of spelling while living and working in the UK.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousWhen I was at school in the U.K. many years ago, we were all taught that:"...ize" was American usage and the British form was "...ise"for all words ending in "ise".

For all words, you say? Not true. See the following post.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousYou are absolutely correct that the ONLY acceptable spellings contained 'ise' and NEVER the American 'ize'. That goes from Primary school through to Uni and also in the workplace. You were always taught that the American spelling was wrong. Fifty years later and I have not seen anything to the contrary. I have never seen any friends, colleagues, teachers etc. use, or allow, anything but the English version. In fact, any copied text that had the American spelling had to be changed. My American friends etc. also changed to the English way of spelling while living and working in the UK.

I believe you are misinformed about some of this. Here's what the Oxford Dictionary, a British publication, says about -ize:

1 The form -ize has been in use in English since the 16th century; although it is widely used in American English, it is not an Americanism. The alternative spelling -ise (reflecting a French influence) is in common use, especially in British English. It is obligatory in certain cases: first, where it forms part of a larger word element, such as -mise (= sending) in compromise, and -prise (= taking) in surprise; and second, in verbs corresponding to nouns with -s- in the stem, such as advertise and televise. [Americans also use -ise in these cases.]
2 Adding -ize to a noun or adjective has been a standard way of forming new verbs for centuries, and verbs such as characterize, terrorize, and sterilize were all formed in this way hundreds of years ago. For some reason, people object to recent formations of this type: during the 20th century, objections were raised against prioritize, finalize, and hospitalize, among others. There doesn’t seem to be any coherent reason for this, except that verbs formed from nouns tend, inexplicably, to be criticized as vulgar formations. Despite objections, it is clear that -ize forms are an accepted part of the standard language.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/-ize

So, in the main, the Americans haven't changed anything about the English language related to -ize endings. It's you British who have borrowed French spellings while the Americans have stayed faithful to the correct spellings.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousYou are absolutely correct that the ONLY acceptable spellings contained 'ise' and NEVER the American 'ize'.

I was at school in England until fifty-one years ago, and my schoolmasters, mainly Oxford graduates, were all in favour of the -ize spellings - at least for words coming to English from Greek.

It is simply not true that he -ize version has ever been unacceptable in BrE, except for a small group of words such as: advertise, advise, comprise, compromise, despise, disguise, exercise, improvise, promise, revise, supervise, surprise.

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjonadvertise, advise, comprise, compromise, despise, disguise, exercise, improvise, promise, revise, supervise, surprise

British and American English are completely in agreement on these spellings. For the life of me, I can't see why some people insist that Americans only use -ize for everything and the British only use -ise for everything!

CJ

Appologise and Appologies.

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